Nature Boy
by finem
Summary: Zemyx gift fic for the.israel.project107! Moulin Rouge...When Zexion agreed to co-direct this travesty, the last thing he expected to find was love.


**Standard Disclaimer:** Not mine. Not mine. Not mine

**Notes:** This story is a bastardization of Kingdom Hearts, Moulin Rouge, and very slightly, Ouran High School Host Club. It is a gift to the illustrious **the.israel.project107**, perhaps some of you have heard of her…

Anyway, because she's awesome and was my 50th reviewer of another fic of mine, I offered her a gift. It took me way longer than anticipated, but now it's done, and not too shabby if I do say so myself. This is my first time writing Zemyx, and dude…wasn't easy. I hope others enjoy it too, but this is totally for you Lauren!

P.S. Mad love to QuirkQuirk for betaing this for me. Thanks a billion, love!

**Warnings:** boys lovin' boys, massively twisted version of Moulin Rouge, non-emo!Zexion and…stuff

**Nature Boy**

"I only speak the truth! I only speak the _truth_!"

1 hour, 23 minutes and 46 seconds. That is exactly how long I have been sitting here watching this parade of idiots audition for the part of a talking sitar. In that spans, I have asked myself exactly 83 times what the hell I am doing sitting in this dingy theatre wasting my time with this atrocity. For those of you lacking in your mathematics skills, that is once a minute for every minute I have been trapped here.

_Moulin Rouge_

That's right. Somehow, I, Zexion Otori, rising start of the Twilight Academy of the Arts was tricked into co-direction of the school's reproduction of what was in my opinion one of the greatest travesties in motion picture history. And who do I have to thank for this?

"I don't know Zexy," Axel Suo, (also known as the bane of my existence) speaks from my left, "that last one wasn't half bad. I mean, the way that he said '_truth,'_ so passionate! So sincere!" It had actually been Axel's idea to have the audition for this particular role involve only one line centered around truth. All the other parts were already filled and he figured that auditions for this last role would go faster this way. Had he consulted me before making this decision, I would have told him that most of the idiots at our school would take that to mean they were only allowed to speak the line made famous by the idiot who had played the role in the film we were basing this after. This, of course, proved true, which meant that for the past 1 hour, 24 minutes and 35 seconds we had been listening to the exact same line spouted over and over and _over_ again.

"I should kill you now for subjecting me not only to this unending hell, but your idiocy on top of it all," I grumble, glaring at the stage as the next auditioner steps into view. This genius actually brought along his own sitar. Brilliant. Now on top of the pain of watching 3rd year Theatre majors who think they actually have talent of some kind mutilate an already painful script, we now also have the pleasure of some pretentious hippy musician assaulting our ears for the sake of 'getting into character.' At least he's fairly attractive. There aren't many people who can pull off hair like that and have it actually look good. That at least was a mark in his favor.

"Oh, c'mon Zexy," Axel persists. "I know deep inside you're loving this shit. This kind of critical assholery is just up your alley."

"Consider yourself fortunate to be deemed worthy of my friendship, Axel," I tell him flipping through my pages to find out the name of the boy on stage. Demyx Hatori. Well that's a stupid name. "This ridiculous idea of yours would have fallen apart months ago without my help, but I'm only willing to take so much before I leave you on your own."

Did I forget to mention that the only reason that the school is even considering this little production is because of the young Mr. Suo sitting to my left and his sudden desire to create a 'Spectacular Spectacular' of his own? Wasn't I just the fortunate friend with the helping hand when that idea struck?

"You may begin," I call to the stage, mentally preparing myself for the undoubtedly torturous experience I'm about to endure, glaring at Axel as he snickers and settles a bit more comfortably in his seat. Apparently he enjoys hemorrhaging of the auditory canal. I return my attention to the stage knowing that this audition is likely going to be as ridiculous as the mess of blond hair on the boy's head, but what happens next is…not at all what I expect.

Sitar music fills the room. Skilled and haunting, notes dancing on the air as they're plucked forth by the blonde's long, elegant fingers. He plays only for a few moments, and as the last notes sing through the theatre, fading slowly like the light from the setting sun, he looks up, and our eyes meet. I'm startled by the emotion that I see there, captivated by the liquid, Aquarian blue that gleams almost unnaturally in the brilliance of the stage lighting. He speaks then, voice a somber, melodious nocturne in the stillness of the room.

"Music can tell no lies," he tells me with a small, not quite there smile, "only truth."

Axel and I both remain completely still and silent as Demyx Hatori, stands then takes himself and his sitar off stage. Even in his absence, despite the fact that he had long since stopped playing, music still seems to dance in the air.

I break the moment by standing and collecting my things. There's no longer any reason for me to stay. "I'll send the letter offering him the part. You handle the last few auditioners." I tell Axel and he just looks up at me in startled confusion.

"Wait, what?" he asks, but I don't bother turning around as he speaks to my back. Axel asked me to help him with this because he knows that I know how to make things happen. I am decisive where he is uncertain. I am focused where he is distractible. I have no problem exercising my power in our relationship and this was an easy decision. Whether Axel understood or not, I knew we had just found our Magical Sitar.

-:- -:- -:-

It's late, and Zexion sits at home with his roommate, looking over the information he'd requested earlier that day.

"So I take your lack of a scowl to mean that you guys found a guy?" Lexaeus asked coming from behind him to look at the laptop perched on Zexion's knees from over his shoulder.

"Naturally," Zexion tells him, eyes never leaving the screen in front of him.

"And I'm assuming, also, that that full background check and photo collection you've run on him is standard procedure for new additions to our little production?"

Zexion doesn't bat an eyelash.

"Naturally."

-:- -:- -:-

Somehow, taking under consideration the very calm and collected nature of his audition, I had expected that this Demyx might actually be someone who would offer a bit of stability to our rather…colorful cast….

"OMG! Dem! I totally knew you would get the part. Did I tell you how to impress or what?"

Somehow I thought that he would be a breath of fresh air, a taste of reason in the face of insanity…

"I owe you one Zoralicious. I didn't think they'd go for that deep symbolic shit, but what can I say? When you're right you're right, right?"

Five minutes into reading his personal history had shattered that dream. Not only was there nothing calm or collected about Demyx Hatori, not only was he actually quite literally the epitome of all things irritating that currently existed in our cast, but…

"Hey, it wasn't all me. Riku was the one who came up with your audition line, remember?"

…he was also apparently (well) acquainted with our two main leads. It seems I'd been set up, by Riku and Sora no less, which did nothing positive for my mood at the moment.

"Can we please get started?" I ask, sending an irritated glare at Axel who is lounging by the snack table (why do we have a snack table?) talking to Kairi Hitachiin, one of the few females present. By now, he is trained well enough to pick up on my irritation and he drops his cheese and cracker, clapping smartly to get everyone's attention.

"Right gang! Looks like it's about time to get going on our first rehersal!" He grabs his clipboard and checks the first page while I walk over to stand beside him. If I don't, I know he'll be distracted by the first shiny thing that comes within his vision.

"Ok," he says, "let's start off with a quick body count." He's so cleaver it amazes me. That was sarcsm. "Satine!" I repress the urge to pull out sunglasses as Sora beams in our general direction. Sora Haninozuka. Our main romantic lead. Bright eyes and bright smiles and one of the single most irritating people I've had the misfortune of interacting with on a regular basis. No one should be that perky 24/7. Such things would be outlawed it if were up to me.

"Christian!" Riku Morinozuka is already standing at Sora's side. That's not exactly surprising as the two are rarely seen apart. I rather like Riku. He's quiet, but intelligent. In many ways a man after my own heart. Of course it took me weeks to discover this as Sora never shut up long enough to let the man get a word in edgewise.

"Toulouse!" Ah yes. My blonde phony. He is only slightly less manic than Sora as they stand there side by side. Just watching the way he gives an overemphasized two fingered salute when his character is called, I know already that I will learn new depths of patience as I deal with him and Sora throughout this production.

"The Duke of Sexy!" Roxas Fujioka, Sora's cousin and the actual rational one of the two glares at Axel from beside Riku. How he and Axel ended up together is beyond me, but even I must admit that there is a positive balance somehow negotiated between the two.

"The Narcoleptic Argentinean!" Xigbar Nekozawa laughs maniacally from the shadows and we all know everything is well there.

"Harold is me," Axel murmurs to himself, marking his list. "And is everybody else here?" There is a general affirmative from the multitude of males surrounding us, and I roll my head to the heavens wondering again why I ever agreed to this. Did I neglect to mention that this is meant to be "the world's gayest production of Moulin Rouge ever!"?

Axel's words, not mine.

"Alright then boys and boys!" Axel calls clapping his hands, and I set to checking my list of things that need to be accomplished. "Let's get this party started! Zexy, if you will,"

I step forward , never taking my eyes from my clipboard. "As you can see," I say gesturing to the stage area around me, "the set is still under construction. We will all be helping the crew in areas that we can. Costumes are also in the design stages. During rehearsal today, Naminé," I gestured to Kairi's twin sister, a slim girl in white, scribbling frantically into a sketch book as she eyed the main cast from one corner of the stage, "will be pulling you aside for measurements. Some of you will need more specific measurements than others and may need to strip down in order for her to get accurate results. If you are uncomfortable with removing your clothes in the presence of a female, Axel or I can take the measurements instead."

"I'll gladly strip down any time he wants me to."

Sora giggles at the comment as it was not-so-discreetly whispered into his ear, but it was Demyx who spoke. I am not amused. I already know that I am one of the most desirable males in the Academy and such propositions are nothing new to me; however, when it becomes a distraction from getting work done, it becomes more than irritating. It's then also counterproductive.

"These are your scripts." I gesture to an innocuous stack of papers next to the snack table, firmly enunciating to remind everyone present just what we're supposed to be talking about. "The story has been altered somewhat, as requested by Axel, so if you have any problems or requests, speak with Kairi." The redhead waves, still standing by the snack table.

"Today will just be a read-through and a basic sing-through of songs in the first few scenes, using the movie soundtrack until we can get a recording from our orchestra. I take it that all of you know most of your songs already?"

"Why else do you think we all signed on to do this, Zexy?" Demyx pipes in, smirking at me becomingly as he leans against Sora's shoulder. I glare at him for the use of the nick-name and glare at Sora because I just know that he's the one responsible for educating our newest cast member. Demyx straightens and drops his gaze slightly at my reaction, but I ignore the small pang of guilt I feel at the look. We have work to do, damn it!

"As I was saying, basic reading and singing today, I expect to get at least to the beginning of the Diamond Dog scene. Stay focused Axel!" The idiot redhead had snuck over to his boyfriend's side and is now draped over the younger boy's shoulders nuzzling his neck. Roxas is doing his best to look put out, but he's not doing a very good job of hiding the affectionate smirk on his face.

To my great irritation, Axel lingers there a moment before straightening. "Right!" he claps, getting everyone's attention. "You heard the man! Let's go! Let's go!"

And then there is general controlled chaos. The crew people take to the back stage and rafters, Larxene, our Crew Manager barking out orders. Our head choreographer, Marluxia, pulls his dancers aside to speak with them, and what is our main cast doing? Converging on the snack table, scripts left untouched as they shove cheese puffs down their throats. I could already tell that this mess is going to take years off of my life. Axel owes me…

Demyx and Sora suddenly burst into the main theme from _The Sound of Music_

Axel owes me in very big ways.

-:- -:- -:-

"_There was a boy_

_a very strange enchanted boy_

_they say he wandered very far...very far_

_over land and sea_

His voice is beautiful…

"_A little shy, and sad of eye_

_but very wise, was he._

I had heard him speak and sing before but…never like this…

_And then one day_

_one magic day he passed my way_

_and as we spoke of many things...fools and kings_

_this he said to me_

…never like this

_"'The greatest thing...you'll ever know...is just to'_--CRAP!"

I blink, confused as the soothing beauty of Demyx's voice comes to a rather abrupt end.

"Nice job, douche," Riku calls from his place on stage throwing a pillow at Demyx's head.

"What?!" the blond shouts back defensively. "'know' makes more sense than 'learn'. It's not my fault my brain is smarter than the stupid song!"

Blinking a few more times, I manage to come out of my daze to figure out what exactly had gone wrong. Lyrics apparently. I'm normally much better at paying attention to things like that.

It's been a few weeks since we began rehearsing, and today is our first day practicing with the actor's voices alone. The Director of the orchestra had sent over copies of our audio and that now replaced the movie soundtrack that we had been using. We are finally working with natural voices along with the sounds of our orchestra...and Demyx's is the first voice that the audience will hear...

With that alone, he just might steal the show.

I had read that he was a singer of some good repute, but I'd not realized how...down-played my reports had been. His voice is amazing. I am truly at a loss for words and that is something that I have never experienced before. Listening to the low melancholy rise and fall of his mellow tenor, feeling the air vibrate with the richness of his vibrato…I've never heard anything like it, and I am not entirely willing to admit to the tightening in my chest as I watched the emotions flit across his face when he sang.

Seeing as it would be unacceptable for the only sane person in the group to show any signs of weakness, I do what is only natural.

"Get the words right or get out," I tell him flatly, only sparing the blond a glance as I avoid making eye contact. Still, I see him pout at me and stick out his tongue, leaning moodily against his mock-up of a balcony.

"Oh, c'mon Zexion," Sora calls cheerily from somewhere above. "Just for once can't you pull the stick out of your ass?! I'm sure you'd be happier if it were replaced by some thing e-else." He says the last in a teasing sing-song and everyone in the theatre has at least a good snicker, at most a rolling fit of laughter (I really am going to kill Axel) at my expense. My hatred for the bright-eyed brunet is now etched in stone…

…and I'm not entirely comfortable with the way Demyx is staring at me.

-:- -:- -:-

The weeks go by and rehearsal goes well, to Zexion's mild surprise. Despite the sporadic fits of randomness from the cast and crew, they remain on schedule. Things are looking good. There is one anomaly however that has Zexion more disconcerted that he is willing to admit.

During the first several weeks of rehearsal things had fallen into a fairly standard pattern. Practice, singing, acting; everything always interspersed with a liberal helping of flirting from Demyx directed always at Zexion and Zexion alone. Zexion had made a point of ignoring the blond in favor of keeping the group focused as best he could. Demyx was not the first to be taken by his myriad charms and he would not be the last, so the boy's fascination with him was of little consequence...

...until, that is, it seemed that Demyx had lost interest and given up.

-:- -:- -:-

I don't understand what's wrong with him! I had bent over far longer than necessary collecting the pages that I had intentionally dropped, brushed past him close enough for any number of creative 'accidents', even worn one of the ensembles that I knew for a fact could get me anyone I wanted with a single glance! Still, _nothing_! I might as well not exist to Demyx and it is not making me happy. Not in the least. That's not to say that I enjoyed having his eyes constantly raking over me, or the small occasional gropes or suggestive comments spoken in his sultry tenor. No. I didn't enjoy it in the least. The simple fact is that I am too good to have anyone simply give up on me! Even if he understood that things would never actually work out between the two of us, at least he should keep dreaming. I thought he had more spirit than that!

Over the course of the several weeks of preparation for this farce, I have learned a great deal about the last addition to our cast, and I'm pleased to say that while at times he can come close to driving me to distraction, Demyx has proven to be considerably more competent than I had initially feared he would be. He's offered a number of ideas to the new plot line that made the overall flow of the story go much better, his skill at the sitar has become fairly important to the production as a whole, and his voice... Even on his bad days, it is a thing to look forward to.

I've taken to making sure that every practice starts out with his opening song, _Nature Boy_

We're about a week away from opening night when it happens. Things have been going as smoothly as expected with half the cast groping and attempting to molest each other—we're now in the middle of dress rehearsals, and even I have to admit that our cast looks pretty damn amazing in their form-fitting ensembles—and Demyx comes to me with a question. The set is madness, everyone moving props to get set up for Axel's big _Like a Virgin/Smoke on the Water_ scene (which somehow ended up involving fire, whips and leather).

"I just want to make sure that I've got everything clear on the whole Duke/Zigler make-out scene," Demyx says leaning towards me and pointing to a section on his script. He's wearing only the painted leotard that he wears under his sitar costume for the _Spectacular Spectacular_ scene, spandex hugging every sculpted muscle on his body. He smells of sweat, blond hair damp from the moisture collecting around his face due to the hot stage lighting, some strands clinging to his cheeks and temples. My attention is drawn to his mouth as he gnaws gently at his lower lip...

"Boss-man?"

I look up startled. He'd been speaking to me. "What were you saying, my mind was else where?" I ask, doing my best to fight off the small blush that wants to break out across my cheeks.

"I just wanted to make sure I've got this right," he repeats. "Axel finishes his big number then goes in for the kiss. He and Rox go at it and I make with the dreamy-magical on my sitar and then I stop when the Duke snaps out of it, right? But is me stopping Rox's cue to snap out of it, or when he snaps out of it, do I stop?"

I blink at him for a moment, but before I can open my mouth to reply, there is a shout, a crash and the madness on the stage comes to a sudden halt.

"What the hell guys?!" Axel shouts, decked out in the sleeveless black trench coat he wears for his scene. "I'm gonna be pisses if you guys broke something! What the fucks going on?!"

"You're not gonna like it!" Larxene's voice calls back, and I'm pushing my way past all the gaping bystanders to see for myself what's happened. Larxene is right...Axel's not gonna like it. Buried in a pile of debris fallen apparently from some nearby scaffolding is Xigbar, our Narcoleptic Argentinean, and lying beside him, equally buried is Luxord...his understudy.

-:- -:- -:-

_"Of all the bone headed idiotc--"_

All things considered, the injuries weren't really that bad.

_"--stupid, dumbass, moronic--"_

Between them there was a cracked rib, a sprained ankle, a dislocated shoulder, a twisted knee, and a distended baby toe...Xigbar had been barefoot.

_"--asinine, dip-shit, asshole--" _

It really could have been a lot worse, but as it stood, both of them are now out of the show leaving us one character short a week before opening night.

_"--shit-for-brains things for you to do!"_

Axel is not happy.

_"Do you even realize what you've done?!? Where am I supposed to get a replacement for your fucking character in less than a goddamn WEEK?!??!?!?!?!"_

I sit in the waiting room of the hospital along with the rest of the cast, listening as Axel's voice rings down the hall, furious and edged with just a touch of carefully hidden panic. There is confusion on the faces of some of the minor players; the dancers, the stage hands…all of those outside of Axel's closest circle of friends. It really isn't common for the redhead to freak out so strongly over something like this. Maybe the show will have to be postponed a few weeks. That shouldn't have phased him so much, but I know the truth of the situation. I assume that Axel has likely told Roxas and Roxas has likely told Sora and Sora has likely told Riku, meaning the four of us are likely the only ones who understand why Axel is so angry. It doesn't help matters that the two idiots hurt themselves playing out a bet.

Axel is heir to one of the most powerful and successful production companies in the world. He and his father have never really gotten along well as the elder Suo spends most of his time working on his various projects. He's never thought of his son as worthy of taking over the family business. This year, he issued a challenge to Axel telling him to prove himself worthy of the Suo name. Axel is required to create a production, and it has to be satisfactorily successful in his father's eyes. If he cannot, he will be disowned and sent away, erased from his family as if he had never existed. His current life is completely riding on the success of this show.

"This is bad," Sora states, winning the award for Mr. Obvious. "We've gotta do something. How can we fix this?"

"Actually…" It's Roxas who speaks up, voice quietly controlled. "The situation isn't as bad as it seems. We already have a replacement."

He looks over at me with that evil little smirk he gets when he's being a bastard and knows it. My stomach sinks. I see the moment when understanding sparks in Sora's eyes and then he's beaming at me, Riku raising his brows and nodding slightly as he considers the possibility.

"Wait, you guys want Zexy to be our Narcoleptic Argentinean?" Demyx speaks up, and I'm too shocked to even formulate proper words of outrage.

"It'll be perfect!" Sora pipes in. "He knows all the lines because he's anal like that, and he knows all the staging places, too! He doesn't even have that many solo songs or dances except for that hot tango scene near the end with you, Dem!"

My protests suddenly die on my tongue as my mind flashes to the mentioned scene. My body is pressed close to Demyx, both of us slick with sweat, the passion of the dance flowing through us as music swells with increasing intensity. My throat goes dry and I realize the Demyx is watching me again, an analytical gleam in his eye.

"It could work," he says smiling suddenly. "We'll have to switch some things up a little, but I think we can make it work."

Axel chooses that moment to storm back in to the room, face flushed with fury. The others tell him of the change in plans and his mood immediately lightens.

I still can't work up any words of protest.

-:- -:- -:-

Zexion accepted his role as the Narcoleptic Argentinean with as much dignity as he could manage in the situation, and he and the rest of the main cast have done emergency rehearsals to get things settled the way they need to be for opening night on Friday. The singing number is given to Demyx, Zexion takes the female role in the tango. Things were good, but Zexion still wasn't happy.

-:- -:- -:-

Thursday night. Final dress rehearsal. We've got this down so well that even I'm beginning to feel fairly impressed by what's happening. Things are twice as hectic as they were before now, because with me in the production, there's no one about, directly observing and controlling everything that's going on at every given moment. I find it… irritating.

Demyx still hasn't been paying me much attention. I thought surely, during our week of practice together he'd take the opportunity to sink his fingers into my flesh at some point. We had to put in extra hours working on the dance. All that time together wearing nothing but leotards or the skin-tight costumes that accentuated all of my finer points and left nothing to the imagination. How could he not have noticed me?! I know that in those hours it had become increasingly difficult for me not to notice him.

He has the body of a dancer, all long slinder limbs. His movements are the most confusing bastardization of ungainly and graceful; beautiful when he's in his element, and just damn awkward when he's not. No mater the case, I find that I can't ignore him, can't write him off anymore…and I'm not quite sure when it happened. All I know is that for the first time, I desire the attention that had always been an irritation to me, and for the first time, I'm being denied.

The last straw is that despite the fact that I now have a performing part in all of this, I'm treated like some kind of simpleton in the! They dumbed down the role even more than it already was, and the one scene where I might have been able to regain some of my dignity and masculine prowess, was given to Demyx, leaving me to flop around helplessly in his surprisingly strong arms. It was more than I could stand for, so, as always, I've taken the matter into my own hands.

They will be shocked and amazed this night because I have a bit of a surprise for everyone. It's taken even more hours of practice outside of rehearsals and a fair amount of me stepping outside of my comfort zone, but I'll be dammed if I'll allow myself to be ignored any longer. After tonight, Demyx will be mine.

The orchestra begins, playing out the 20th Century theme then quieting as the curtain rises to reveal Demyx, a lone spotlight illuminating him on his balcony, causing him to glow silver and blue. His voice seems particularly haunting tonight. It reaches out and wraps around me, filling me, blocking all else from mind and memory. He's so beautiful. How did I not notice it from the beginning? How did I ignore him when he was offering me everything that he was?

Dim blue light slowly begins illuminating the stage revealing a disheveled Riku, tearing apart his set. There is a translucent curtain still closed in front of him so that the audience's attention will remain on Demyx until the opening piece is complete, but they will also see that the story has already begun.

The music ends, Riku begins his lines and I have parts to play. The Moulin Rouge scene goes by in a flurry of madness and motion, Sora playing his part as the "Sapphire Diamond" so well it's almost disturbing. I don't take much notice of it thought. Demyx is being constantly pressed against me as we bustle to our next marks, and it's all I can do to keep my head in the game at this point. Just wait Demyx…you won't know what hit you.

We make it through our medleys, I fall over asleep the requisite number of times. Satine and Christian are falling in love. Everything goes on smoothly, flawless, perfect; exactly as I've made sure things would be. Transitions between scenes are easy, the there is a buzz in the air from the cast and crew because we all know. We're ready. Nothing will keep this show from blowing the audience away.

Axel is breaking down the door for his seduction scene and my stomach flutters with anticipation. Almost time. I'm very close to reminding them of exactly who is working in their midst. Pyrotechnics explode as Axel dives for Roxas, pinning him to the long, white-covered table, and the rest of us are taking up positions, grabbing our items for the upcoming scene change. Axel goes in for his kiss. Dem plays, flawlessly adding his sitar to the moment. The chords stop, Roxas shoves Axel away, and the stage goes dark.

Those of us who were standing at stand by rush silently on stage, shifting props and switching backdrops as the sound of Spanish guitar fills the air. I know that Demyx is rushing to hit his mark in time and smirk knowing the surprise that awaits him.

Initially, this scene belonged to Xigbar. He told the tale of the prostitute and the man who fell in love with her; he sang the altered version of _Roxanne_, he took the masculine lead, and Demyx played the role of the scarlet woman the song was written about. The original version of this scene had her tossed from man to man, passed around the stage like the whore she was meant to be. This production changes that a little.

Our lover is a fair bit more possessive of his Roxanne, pulling Dem away from all of the other would be clients. It is a dance of dominance, a declaration of ownership, and in the end, the lover bests all others but also vents his fury on Roxanne. All of this made for very heated tension between the two dancers.

However, since Xigbar's was the more difficult of the dance parts, and Demyx has more experience with dancing than I do, the decision to trade was made.

Tonight, I will make them all realize how foolish that decision had been.

Demyx comes crashing into me as he dashes to get into position. I steady him before he can fall and smirk at the confusion on his face. It's understandable, of course considering that I am standing in his spot. He looks like he's about to argue, but before he can:

"Never fall in love…" I begin, and that is the cue for the lights to come up. "…with a man who sells himself." The soaring voice of a violin sings through the air, and it's too late to change anything. Demyx can either stop the entire scene and ruin the run, or he can be a professional and adapt accordingly. Of course, I already know which he will do. He may be a bumbling idiot when he wants to be, but above all else, Demyx is a performer. He doesn't even bat a lash as he falls back into his previous roll with ease.

"It always ends bad!" I shout, smiling in triumph as the rest of the cast adjusts to the sudden change. "We, have a dance… in the brothels of _Buenos Aires…_" I continue with the lines that originally should have belonged to me, stalking Demyx like the prey he now is as I carefully inflect every syllable. Demyx is watching me with wary eyes, and suddenly, it feels like neither of us is acting anymore.

Chords from both violin and piano swell around us as the scene unfolds and he comes willingly to me. I can't help the true feelings of possessiveness that overcome me now that I have stepped fully into this role.

"First there is desire." We move deliciously close together, eyes locking as the heat of the dance takes over. "Then passion." The world seems to fade as our bodies come crashing together, barely-there clothing doing very little to conceal the firm muscles of his body against mine.

"Jealousy, anger, betrayal. When love is for the highest bidder, there can be no trust. And without trust, there is no love. The jealousy—yes, the jealousy—will drive you _MAD!_"

Before I say anything else, understand this. I don't sing. It is a thing that I have done my best to hold true to for as long as I can remember. In all other parts of this production, I move my mouth to the lyrics, but avoid making actual sound. For this scene, I let that go. I spent hours over the past week training my voice for this moment, and now that it is here…nothing else matters. There is only Demyx and the impassioned glaze to his eyes as he moves around the stage.

Where he goes, I follow. All others who try to take him from me are forcefully thrown aside. It doesn't matter that this scene is about Christian and Satine. I barely even notice Riku's voice as it rises to serve as a counter to my own. This is my world now, and Demyx is the only thing in it that matters to me.

For the entire number, there is nothing but heat and sweat and the sharp, tangy scent of him. Our eyes seem perpetually connected, and as the scene builds up to its climactic end and he falls limp against me after my final act of violence, I'm overcome by a heady rush. The lower half of the stage goes dark. It's time for another scene change and he and I both have assignments to attend to, but parting from him takes more force of will than I'm willing to admit to.

We both manage to move our set pieces as we are supposed to, but no sooner are they in their required placements that we find each other again as if bonded by the dance. Then his mouth finds mine as my own had been seeking his out, and there's just the warmth of him. His lips running over mine, my tongue battling with his, hands and fingers everywhere, and it is all just _perfection_.

The rest of the run is a blur. I know that we always made our marks and were in our places when we needed to be, but every moment when we didn't have something else to do onstage, we were again drawn together. The story reached its climax, resolutions were found between Zigler and the Duke, Satine died in the arms of his love, but Dem and I are beyond all of that. I smile in triumph to myself.

Demyx had never stood a chance.

-:- -:- -:-

"OMG! Dem! I totally knew he'd be all over you! Did I tell you how to catch 'im or what?"

I will not lie. I feel distinctly conflicted at the moment…

"I owe you one, Zoralicious. I didn't think he'd go for that whole reverse psychology shit, but what can I say? When you're right you're right, right?"

I thought that I had planned everything out so perfectly…

"Hey, it wasn't all me. Riku was the one who came up with the whole role reversal thing, remember?"

It seems I'd been set up, by Riku and Sora again, but I can't say that I'm particularly opposed to the outcome this time. I will admit to feeling quite the fool at the moment, but then Demyx is beside me wrapping an arm around my waist while the other comes up to rest on my shoulder and he's giving me a pout that makes me want to gnaw on that out-thrust lower lip.

"You"re not mad at us are you, Zexy?" he asks impishly, and all I can do is glare.

"You're coming home with me tonight," I declare. I do have to salvage some of my pride after all. I move towards the exit, dragging Demyx along behind me to snickers and catcalls from the rest of the crew.

"Careful, Zexy!" Sora calls after us. "We need him functional for tomorrow night!"

I stop and glare back at the boy and pause when I see that the smile on his face seems genuinely please. Riku gives me a small nod of approval, and it seems that maybe this had not been done to mock me. Maybe these people had really been working to help me out?

"C'mon, Zexy, we ain't got all night," Demyx whines, and somehow our positions have reversed and he's now dragging me away. I send a final nod towards Sora and Riku before heading out. After all, my Nature Boy is calling. Who am I to make him wait?

-:- -:- -:-

**A/N:**

Tee hee. That was fun. Yep, yep it was.

For anyone who cares, the production was a huge success and everyone got a happy ending. I just thought the story ended best here, so…there you are.

I hope you enjoyed it Lauren!!!! Thanks for the 50th and for just being so awesome in general!


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